Tape Shapes Fun - Attributes of Shapes

All I had on a trip to visit my in laws was some blue painters tape; so I created tape shapes to help my children practice names and attributes of shapes while having some fun!

I quickly taped up the floor and watched the ideas flow from their minds. Being bored can certainly bring out creativity, and I was so happy to see them go from begging for screen time to thinking creatively and getting active.

4 Simple Activities to Teach Attributes of Shapes:

1. Tape Shape Line-Up

Earlier in the day, we had gone to a beautiful beach on the California coast and collected a mountain of colorful rocks.

With rocks as their newest obsession, the girls started organizing the small stones around the tape. This could be done with any kind of item: cars, pom poms, figures.

Lining up toys is a wonderful quiet time activity, and kids love looking at their collections in new ways. We revisited this one again during the baby's nap.

Attributes of Shapes Questions to Ask:

• What shape are you decorating?
• How many sides does that shape have?
• Where are the shapes corners? How many are there?
• How do you know that shape is a ______?
• Tell me, how do you know the square is not a rectangle?
• How is this shape the same or different from another one?
• How many items did you fit around the triangle? square?

2. Run to a _______ - Shape Attributes Game

Never miss an opportunity to turn learning into a gross motor game! For my kids, learning is most fun when they're not sitting down.

With my older daughter (4.5 years at the time), I wanted to build knowledge of attributes of shapes. So, I called out descriptors and attributes for her to find and run/walk/jump to.

With Lil Sis (18 months), she's just being exposed to shapes, I called out names of shapes. She also loves the Sticky Wall Shape Sort.

Attributes of shapes call-outs:

• Run to a shape that has 4 sides
• Jog to a shape that has 5 corners
• Hop to a shape that you can fit both your feet in
• Run to your favorite shape and then bounce 4 times.
• Land on a pentagon
• Run to a shape and put one foot in and one foot out.
• Bounce to a new shape and put your hands on its sides.
• Wiggle to the triangle and do a jumping jack.

3. Follow the Leader with Tape Shapes:

For a more independent game, the girls played a hopscotch adjacent game where they would run and jump through all the tape. They took turns leading who would be the leader and also tried out different kinds of movements. Some examples kids love: run, jump, hop on one foot, gallop, swim, etc.

4. Super Simple Shape Sorting from Busy Toddler

Susie from Busytoddler.com uses tape shapes to sort household objects like blocks, books, balls, and more. As kids play they're comparing and contrasting the attributes of shapes as they sort.

Looking for even more ways to play with attributes of shapes? Check out these 3D Shapes activities that explore shape names, attributes, and comparing and contrasting 2D vs 3D shapes.

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